Newark
RG #5070 The 1700s – 1849 Settled in the early eighteenth century, Newark was a thriving market town and a stop for travelers between the Chesapeake Bay and Philadelphia when, in 1758, it received a colonial Charter from King George II. In general, the late eighteen and early nineteenth-century development was typical of other […]
Townsend
RG #5400 The 1800s Townsend, located in southern New Castle County in an area of fertile agricultural land and dense forests, was originally an isolated crossroads village called Charley Town, with a store and a few houses. In 1856, when the Delaware Railroad line established a station here, it was renamed Townsend, after the […]
New Castle
RG #5080 The 1600s & 1700s The City of New Castle was claimed by the Swedish, the Dutch and the English at various times during the seventeenth century, but the English would finally prevail and New Castle was part of the territory which was granted to William Penn by King Charles II of England. […]
Odessa
RG #5200 The early 1800s Located on the Appoqinimink Creek, Cantwell’s Landing was one terminus of a portage road on a route established in the seventeenth century to provide access from the Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake Bay. The landing and the nearby village of Cantwell’s Bridge were named for Edmund Cantwell who settled […]
Celebrating the History of the Delaware Department of Transportation
In 2019, the Delaware Department of Transportation marks 102 years of service to the residents of Delaware and all who travel throughout the First State. On Saturday, April 6, at 10:30 a.m. Jennifer Cohan, Secretary of Delaware Department of Transportation will present a program at the Delaware Public Archives focusing on the history of this […]
The du Pont Family: A Brief Introduction
The du Pont family has been closely tied to Delaware history from 1802 to the present. But have you ever wondered who they are? How they came to Delaware and ended up running one of the nation’s most prominent chemical companies? On Saturday, January 5, 10:30 a.m., at the Delaware Public Archives, Lucas R. Clawson […]
Delaware: Then and Now
Change over time is a critical part of examining the history of the First State. One of the ways to research the cultural landscape of Delaware is to compare modern-day images with pictures taken from a different time period. Using photographs from the collections of the Delaware Public Archives, the Lion’s Club of Delaware and […]
Viola
RG# 6160 In 1856, when the Delaware Railroad established a station stop at the intersection of the road from Canterbury with the road to Willow Grove, there were only a few farmhouses located nearby. The stop was called Canterbury Station, as it was only a mile west of that community. A village began to […]
Slaughter Beach
RG# 7220 As early as 1700, a community formed where two navigable rivers, the Mispillion River and Cedar Creek, emptied into the Delaware Bay. The Slaughter Beach community, along with its neighbor community just to the north, Cedar Beach, was one of a number of places located on the Delaware Bay which served as […]
Selbyville
RG# 7210 Shortly after Mason and Dixon carried out the survey that would establish the boundary line between Maryland and Delaware, a community began to develop near the location of a grist mill and sawmill on Sandy Branch at the headwaters of the Bishopsville Prong of the St. Martin’s River. Its name, Selbyville, dates to […]
